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E-PrinceAs of 2010, six of the eight Ivy League universities offer undergraduate single concentrations in linguistics. Princeton, however, is not among them, even though we do offer a certificate program in linguistics, and undergraduates commonly create independent concentrations in the ...(back to the article)
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Completely agreed (obviously). Thanks so much.
However, this doesn't seem correct:
"At any given time, there are typically between five and 10 students in the process of pursuing an independently designed linguistics concentration[.]"
It's true of the current moment - we have six approved linguistics concentrators now (and, I believe, more coming up) - but certainly a couple years ago there was just one approved concentrator and two of us in the application process, and to the best of my knowledge the current situation is not typical. (My knowledge is not extensive, so I welcome corrections.)
However, that's not to say that interest in linguistics is actually low. In fact, my impression is that as soon as it became apparent that an independent concentration is an actual possibility, a bunch of people began taking advantage of it. Of the six current concentrators, at least two came to Princeton knowing of this possibility because we had been explicitly informed of it by helpful people on campus, and the other four joined the “department” once we were already in it. So we all had “proof” that this could work, and I think that's why there's so many of us now. So I imagine that if linguistics is turned into a full major like any other – and publicizes its existence, and thus eliminates the knowledge gap – there'll be an even bigger spike in enrollment, especially since, as the editorial notes, more people with a preexisting interest in linguistics would be choosing Princeton.
(Of course, there need to be actual substantive steps taken, like hiring a goddamn phonologist,* in addition to purely bureaucratic ones, and perhaps those are financially difficult... but they really need to happen.)
*I am not at all unhappy with our visiting phonology professor! It was just a really precarious situation to be in when I didn't know if I'd be able to take phonology here... (we also need a sociolinguist plz)
Please, Princeton, use the synergies with CS and Neurology if you do this; make the concentration technical and leave the fuzzy stuff in other departments.
How much would it cost to create such a department? The Prince Board is really good on describing the benefits, but never talks about the costs. How can we know if its worth the money if only one side of the equation is described?
There is nothing fuzzier than using linguistics to make uninformed judgments about neural processes. If you want to study neuro-science, by all means do so, but don't try to tell anyone who has half a brain that optimality theory actually reflects subconscious language constraints.
Hear hear!
As a linguist who got her PhD in linguistics at Princeton some twenty years ago, I think this is long, long overdue.
z, how do you reconcile this view with your demand for [identity group]-studies programs? there are only so many departments princeton can support. and while it is obvious to all that linguistics is superior in every respect, the trade-off must be made explicit before the real debate can begin.
I think one specific difference between linguistics and [identity group]-studies programs is that linguistics can be seen as a set of approaches. It is a different way of studying, interacting with, and viewing the world. It is far different than simply taking many languages or translation courses; it is a set of methods. [identity group] studies programs, on the other hand, are primarily content-based. One can use the same existing methods found in several departments - history, anthropology, sociology - in order to study new content that pertains specifically to particular identity groups. While I am personally in support of creating more identity studies programs and improving existing ones (the Southeast Asian program, as it currently stands, is quite lacking) they do not consist of entirely new approaches but rather different areas of knowledge. Someone can enter these fields with a background in related approaches (again, anthropology, etc.), but there isn't a similar substitute for linguistics. Linguistics is really the only preparation for linguistics.